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The Face of Death
The Face of Death is story written by MinifigFF98. It is much darker than the usual stories written by Minifig and chronicles the assassin Kahu's journey through Kingda Nui, putting together the puzzle that will reveal what exactly is "the face of death." Please note that this story may contain graphic description of battles, blood, and wounds. This story features assassinations, extreme violence, and the works. So don't read this if you can't handle that kind of stuff. The previous story is technically Lurking in the Pit, but Kahu did make a short appearance in Sweet, Sweet Revenge and its spinoffs. This story takes places right after his appearance in that storyline, although you do not have to read them to understand the story. Prologue One year ago... "This is Kahu calling for emergency extraction." The being known as Kahu waited for a response over the radio communicator in his helmet. Several seconds seemed to go by, each one seeming to be an hour. No response came. The radio just emmitted static, quiet as a dead man. Kahu ducked swiftly as a blindingly bright search light hit the spot where he had just been hiding moments before. Blood trickled from his bandaged wounds; the effort he had been using was weakening him. Kahu needed to leave as soon as possible. He once again turned his radio back on again as the search light faded, leaving it very quiet and peaceful in the back alley the assassin was resting in. "I repeat, this is Kahu! I need an emergency extraction!" whispered Kahu into the radio. As a few precious seconds went by, Kahu began to give up what little hope he had left. He was going to be dead soon. Kahu waited several more seconds. No response. Kahu took a deep breath. It was time to give up. He was too weak to fight off anyone anyway. He began to move, as if to get up, when his radio started making noise. "Roger that, Kahu. Stay where you are." The radio voice was the sweetest thing Kahu had heard. Ever. The happiness of safety energized every muscle in his body, and Kahu got up. He felt energy swirl around him, and he began to yell out, "So long, you sons of bi-" Kahu, however, was cut off as the energy around him engulfed his body. Kahu began to be squeezed to the smallest fraction of an atom, then expanded radically, as he was transported to the base of operations of a small but mildly succesful branch of the Brotherhood of Makuta that had rebelled and went into hiding. These renegades had orchestrated the mutation of Kahu, although the assassin did not know it. In recent years Kahu had been mutated twice, visited the pit, killed countless matoran and assassination targets, fought some crazed rahi, and basically went through hell. He had lost his two best friends, although he had long been deprived of the ability to feel anything for others, the results of mutations and experiments done to him. Kahu stepped forward, and fell to the floor immediately. He was too weakened to even walk a bit. His mind faded into nothingness as he passed out; extreme exhaustion had prevented it from processing what just happened. Kahu fell into unconsciousness, and it seemed to last forever. It was, surprisingly, a vivid and dreamed filledsleep. Or so we think it was. Did you think you were the only one? The voice funneled through Kahu's brain. Great pain followed the voice. We are watching, Kahu. Always watching. It is our job. Before you know it, we will find you.'' Kahu experienced a massive amount of pain. The shock was so much that his body's adrenaline activated, and Kahu burst out of the table he was strapped into. He fell to the floor, panting, still trying to process what just happened. He noticed the pain had stopped, as if it was never there. Kahu leapt to his feet as he cought his breath. He was in a surgical room. Makuta Renegaid and a Raakshi of Fusion stood before him. Its staff was still smoking from apparent usage. "Hello Kahu," said Renegaid. "I see that you have failed the simple mission you were given. Toa Narkz and Toa Ajak are not dead. In fact, no one is dead. You were beaten and captured. You are lucky I still need you, assassin. Now sit down. I must discuss some modifications I have made to your armor. Leave us, Raakshi." The Raakshi left the room cautiously, as if it didn't trust Renegaid. It was then that Kahu noticed that some parts of his armor were slightly heavier than usual. He peered at a strange opening on the armor of his right wrist. There seemed to be something hidden inside. The same thing had happened to his left wrist. "Kahu," said Renegaid. "You have failed me. Avorax is a trusted friend. You have put me in a bad light. Avorax wants you killed, but I have denied this. I need you. This small batch of renegades needs you. Teridax continues to promote his ''Great Plan and thretens to annihlate not only myself, but my operatives. Fortunately he is busy chasing after the Toa who evacuated Metru Nui. Intellegence has informed us that he is actually far away, beyond the normal boundaries of Mata Nui's body. It appears he has gone to the surface of the planet on his goose chace. This is why you have been upgraded. I want you to attack a Brotherhood fortress not far from here. They are close to discovering us. It should be easy with your new upgrades." Kahu looked once again at his wrists. "What exactly did you do to me?" "Well," replied Renegaid, "You have a hidden gun in your left wrist. There is a button hidden under the surface of the armor on your hand. The same goes for your right, although I have put a blade in there instead. It will be good for stealth killing. Try them out." Kahu made fists, feeling for the buttons implanted in his hands. He found the buttons on both hands, and upon pressing them, a gun barrel shot out of his left wrist. A small knife-like blade shot out of his right. He slashed the knife around and fired the gun at the wall. It went straight through the wall and actually continued to go through each room until it eventually hit a Makuta at the other end of the small complex. "I would also like to point out that we have patched up your wounds. You are completely healthy and mission-ready. However, there are some upgrades you need to know about as well. Your armor has become more adaptive over time; It appears it is possible to attach extra equipment to yourself. We have attached several small pockets. Each one contains a knife, just in case. You also have a laser-rifle on your back. It fires concentrated elemental energy just like your old sword, but it has been reworked into a rifle." "Alright," said Kahu. "But I think I may need to rest up a little. Something about that last mission bugged me. Maybe we can do this 'capture the enemy base' thing another time.....?" "Are you...challenging me, Kahu? You are my assassin? Do you need to be reminded? You are lucky I did not have your throat slit! Your failure was embarassing, Kahu! That Toa beat the dung out of you and took your sword. Instead of pursuing him, you fled. Then you were captured by officers! It took you a day to get yourhead back in the game and escape! You were not designed for that!" "Wait....how do you know what I'm designed for?" asked Kahu suspiciosly. He began to circle Renegaid. Something wasn't right. "I CREATED YOU!!!" yelled Renegaid in a fit of rage. "EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU WAS ORCHESTRATED BY MY OPERATIVES!!! YOU WERE MADE TO SERVE ME, AND ME ONLY!!!!" Kahu became trapped in great shock. What the heck was Renegaid saying? Everything that had happened to him; the hatred, the being cast away by the matoran he had served, the experimentation, his trip to the pit....all because of Renegaid? "Maybe....I don't to serve you, and you only anymore!" exclaimed Kahu, obviously anrgy beyond words. "I am done with you and your pathtic excuse for a resistance! I was, am, and always will be superior to you!" With that, Kahu pressed the button on his right hand and his knife shot out of his right wrist. He quickly stabbed the surprised Renegaid, who fell to the floor. Kahu pinned the Makuta to the floor and continually stabbed him. One through the eye. One in the chest. One in the legs. Then Kahu slashed through the armor again and again, until Renegaid resembled a thousand-year old armor set that belonged in a junkyard. Antidermis flooded out like gushing blood and flew around the room, seeking shelter. Kahu ripped open the door and ran down the hallways of the complex. As he ran Kahu extracted the gun barrel in his left arm. He fired behind him without looking. He could hear several creatures coming up behind him. After the shots there was only one. Kahu made a sharp turn and waited behind the line of sight in the corner of the hallway. A Raakshi came running through, but was immediately killed as Kahu sprung from hiding and stabbed it straight through its armored back. The Kraata inside was killed, and the beast collapsed. By that time Kahu had proceeded farther down the halls, and two Makuta lay shot, their essences leaking radically from their armor. Finally Kahu came to a dead end. There was a wood wall put up, and a sign that read Closed for repairs. The recent Rahi attack had caused dozens of openings in the walls to be created. Taking advantage of that, Kahu ripped through the wooden wall into a crumbling sections of the base. Barely any parts of the walls still stood. Kahu ran straight out through these openings and into the unknown wilderness of the island. Kahu ran through the thick brush and the seemingly never ending amount of trees. Every so often a Yellemoth native to the island would rise from aits nest and try to chase Kahu away, believing he was an intruder in their territory. But Kahu was like a red blur as he ran swiflty through the jungle. Soon a small amount of light could be seen shining through the tall trees of various types and hues. Kahu suddenly halted as he almost ran straight off of the edge of the island. he looked down below to see that the whole land mass was elevated. Rocks were visible below, sticking out of the shallow water. "Well, I have nothing to lose," said Kahu to himself. He dived into the shallow water, knowing he might land on a rock and get wounded, or worse. Soon he would be free to go wherever he pleased. It was the beginning of his end. Chapter 1 Now... It was night. Two matoran were working on a cliffside. A Ko-Matoran and an Av-Matoran to be exact. They struck their pick axes against the rock, and eventually a metallic sound could be heard. The Ko-Matoran began exitedly telling his companion that they had struck something. The Av-Matoran walked over to the area where the other was and peered at the small piece of metal sticking out. Both matoran began furiously sriking the rocks in the way of what was buried. Kahu watched from the top of the cliff the matoran were excavating. He waited. In the year since he had escaped his previous main employer he had learned many things about the art of the kill. First, you must know your target. Study them. Find out about their lives. Where they live, their friends and family, where they work, their ambitions....their secrets...etc. Next, you must observe your target. Become familiar with their daily practices to follow them and plan your attack. Then you plan. When that phase is over, you must wait for the right moment. Stalk your prey like a jungle cat and play with them. Scare them. When at last they are ripe for attack, you kill them. Quickly. Without any witnesses if necessary. Finally a piece of an old vehicle had appeared in the cliffside. The matoran were extremely excited that they had found something at last. They were distracted and were completely off guard. It was time for Kahu to strike. He took a knife from one of the pockets in his armor and quickly threw it in a way that it would just miss the two matoran. Sure enough it went between the two miners and bounced off the exposed vehicle they had found. The two matoran looked at the ground where the knife was, confused. Then another knife came. It landed straight in the Ko-Matoran's neck. The dead matoran fell to the rugged ground. The other miner shook the body, apparently believing he was still alive. But the Ko-Matoran had just met his maker. The Av-Matoran released the body after a few seconds of hopeless shaking. He raised his pick axe and went into a defensive stance. Kahu could see the fear in his eyes. The matoran looked around for the source of the knives, but Kahu was hidden in the darkness. He slowly moved to the side. Kahu was going to surprise the matoran. But te Av-Matoran heard him and looked up. He picked up the lantern that was on the ground by where he had been mining and threw it with all the strength he had upwards. For a brief moment it lit up the area where Kahu was. The matoran saw the assassin poised to strike in that brief moment and immediately ran the other way, screaming. Kahu just chuckled to himself and leaped off of the cliff. He slid down the side and landed gracefully. Then he ran after the fleeing matoran, ready to kill. As he went he stepped on the dead Ko-Matoran, crushing the body's armor. Kahu was used to running by now. Whether he was chasing someone or being chased himself, running had become a way of life for the assassin. It had become something more than a way to get around. It often meant life or death for Kahu; That is, his life, or a matoran's death. The Av-Matoran had never known fear as intense as he was experiencing at that moment. Someone was trying to kill him, and his little matoran legs were getting him nowhere fast. He ran and ran for what seemed like forever, but it was actually only several minutes. The matoran had arrived at the farthest outskirts of the mining company's office complex where he was employed. He was too exhausted to go on. But he was so close. He attempted to run a little more, just to make it to shelter. No dice; The Av-Matoran was too exhausted to do anything of the sort. He slumped against a nearby tree to try and catch his breath. Hopefully whoever was after him wasn't there yet. The matoran decided that they weren't. They could'nt be. The unknown assassin had given up, discarded their target. But the matoran was wrong. A blade went straight through his heart. Blood sprayed from the open wound like a typhoon of red rain and he fell to the ground in agonizing pain. Kahu looked at down at the dying matoran and crouched down. He brought one of his loose knives to the matoran's throat, and slashed. The matoran instantly died as the blade slit his throat; Blood spurt out like a geyser from the disgusting looking wound. Kahu wiped the blood off of his loose knife with his hand. He needed to collect his other two knives. There could be no evidence that he was involved. Kahu rushed back to the cliff where the now disfigured Ko-Matoran lay. Maggots were already feeding off of his open wounds, and a vulture could be heard up above. Kahu grabbed the knife in the matoran's throat in pulled it out. Then he picked up the other knife, which was still resting on the ground. It was slightly chipped where it had collided with the vehicle partially buried in the canyon wall. Kahu wiped the blood off of the knife that had been in the Ko-Matoran's throat with his hand. He placed each of the knives back into their respective pockets in his armor. Then Kahu gracefully and acrobatically climbed back up the cliff in an instant. He then fled from the area. No one could no of his presence at the scene of the kill. Besides, it was time to collect the payment for his assassination of the Av-Matoran. The other miner's death was unecessary; Kahu just coiuldn't help himself. He had a policy. No witnesses. Also, he liked to kill. The assassin went on his way to recieve the widgets he deserved. Kahu was alone on the mountain trail back to the nearby village; He encountered no one. Good. Anymore killing might make him late. Kahu wanted to arrive by morning, and he did. The bustling village that was before him was just waking up at dawn when Kahu came upon its entrance. Kahu walked through the crowded streets. Matoran of all shapes, sizes, and colors went about their business. here and there a Toa, Makuta, or other kind of being passed by. Kahu recognized a Toa walking down the street. He had once quarreled with that particular Toa. Thirty seconds later the Toa fell to the ground and died after he had been stabbed by someone passing by. No one saw who did it. Five minutes later a matoran was found lodged in wet cement. He had suffocated to death. The two matoran workers nearby who saw what happened were dead by gunshot wounds. Eventually Kahu stopped enjoying himself and arrived at a dirty, seedy-looking bar amongst the crowds. Kahu carefully scanned the bar. His eyes went aorund the place, passing over fugitives, fellow assassins, black market merchants, slave traders, and the like. Finally Kahu spotted the being he was looking for. It was an old Skakdi who wanted that Av-matoran dead. he had promised to pay Kahu for the kill. Kahu approached the Skakdi. "The miner is dead," said Kahu. "Pay up." "Proof," said the Skakdi. He extended his hand. Kahu took a blood stained piece of armor that no doubt belonged to the matoran. As he handed it to the Skakdi a being at the bar glanced over and narrowed its eyes. Kahu shot the being a nasty look, then turned back to the Skakdi. "Alright," said the Skakdi. He handed Kahu a small bag filled with 100 widget credits. After inspecting the bag, Kahu closed it and looked up at the Skakdi. "Everything is in check. Good for you. Now I will be leaving. Feel free to contact me again for anything else." "I will keep that in mind if anyone else does not pay their debts to me next time. So long, assassin," said the Skakdi. Kahu bid him a silent farewell and pushed his way out of the group of drunks who had just stumbled into the bar. He exited and vanished in the crowds of people littering the village steets. Kahu was in a poor village; the abundance of technology and large skyscrapers that used to be so familiar to Kahu were not present. Kahu had been setled on the primitave landmass called Kingda Nui for a whole year. The only true city lay at the very top of the mountains. Only nobles and rich beings of the massive island lived there. It was also rumored that a ruler who manipulated the whole island lived there as well. Kahu had been scretly hoping to kill that ruler. he loved dramatic assassinations. Without noticing, Kahu had gone into a back alley while lost in thought. A few homeless matoran were sleeping against the wall. One got up and began to ask Kahu for spare change. Kahu snapped the matoran's neck and shot every hobo in the alley within thirty seconds. He began to turn around to rejoin the crowds when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He swiftly turned around to see a Toa pointing a sword at him. Kahu pulled his own sword out of its scabbard (attached to his armor) and rushed at the Toa. The Toa blocked Kahu attack and pushed the assassin back. Off balance, Kahu barely dodged a swing from the Toa's sword. Kahu quickly leapt up and swung at the Toa. However, the swing was once again blocked. Kahu and the Toa fought back and forth, dodging, swinging their swords, blocking strikes. Kahu pretended to block one of the Toa's swings, but at the last minute he dodged instead and swung the sword straight into the Toa's side. The Toa began to bleed from the wound and furiously swung and jabbed at Kahu, but couldn't manage to land a hit. Finally, Kahu stabbed the Toa straight through the chest, and he fell. kahu was about to put his sword away when several more Toa jumped out from the tops of the surrounding buildings. They landed almost as gracefully as Kahu would have, and quickly surrounded him, swords drawn. Kahu went into a defensive stance. One by one each of the Toa attempted to swing at him, but each time kahu blocked them and sent them backwards or to the ground. Kahu grew tired of blocking, and so when one of the Toa attacked once more Kahu became a living weapon and ducked under the blade. He sprung up with his own, and it went straight through the Toa's face. Then Kahu spun around and took out several Toa at once by stabbing them between their strikes. At last one Toa remained to challenge Kahu. However, the Toa turned around and fled into the streets. Kahu knew he wouldn't be able to get through the thick crowds. Instead he ran straight at the nearest building, and at the last moment he jumped onto the wall. He grabbed onto any crack or protruding object he could find, and in no time was on the roof. Kahu leapt from rooftop to rooftop trying to spot the escaping Toa. He quickly hopped over scaffolding and boards among the rooftops which were so close together. The assassin eventually spotted the toa, who was attempting to blend in with the crowd. Kahu leapt across a few rooftops, getting himself ahead of the Toa. He pressed the button on his right hand and his blade shot out. He waited until the Toa was right where he wanted, and then jumped. Kahu landed straight on the Toa, knocking him down. Then Kahu stabbed the Toa several times in the abdomen, until they were coughing up blood. "There's no where to run," said Kahu. "Who are you?" "The first of many," said the Toa. "We will find you, Kahu. Then we will kill you. You cannot escape the face of death. It will follow you wherever you go, for you are its brother." Then the Toa died and lay motionless on the ground. Kahu stood up and stared down at the body. He kicked the dead Toa in the face, causing blood to fly out of several places. Kahu then ran into the crowd, and later that day at least seven more matoran were found dead by stabbing or gunshot. Chapter 2 The following morning... You cannot escape the face of death. It will follow you wherever you go, for you are its brother.... Kahu awoke with a start. He was under the tree where had camped out last night in the mountains. The assassin stood up and starting stretching. As he did so he took in the beautiful mountain landscape before him. Thousands of undisturbed trees stretched from around his location all the way up the mountains. Only a crude dirt road broke the forest. The trail went for miles, splitting into forks that would lead to villages, cities, and up the huge mountains that were plentiful on Kingda Nui. Resting time was over. Kahu needed to look for a job in the nearest village. He checked his armor to see if every weapon was at its correct location, and then Kahu walked onto the dirt road. He passed tree after tree, thinking about the events of the day before. What did that Toa mean? You cannot escape the face of death. It will follow wherever you go, for you are its brother. These chilling words had haunted Kahu's mind all night long. His minute IQ (due to mutations) could not work hard enough to figure out what that Toa meant. Soon Kahu arrived at a sign that pointed to two different villages. Kahu didn't really care and just went left. As he walked along the trail the background began to change. Trees were farther away from each other, and eventually only a few dead trees and lots of stumps were around Kahu. Small fences made from branches were everywhere, broken, old, and rotten. Some were even on fire. Swords and shields that were damaged beyond repair were littered on the dirt below Kahu's feet, leaving him wondering what exactly had happened there. After going through another mile of war-torn landscape, Kahu could see something very large in the distance. He climbed up some rocks that were on the side of the road and looked down at the huge village down below. A thick castle-like wall surrounded it, and inside were too many buildings to count. It dwarfed the village Kahu had visited yesterday. However, half of the buildings seemed destroyed. The walls were blown apart in some places; Smoke was rising from all over the village, as well as outside its borders. Destroyed wooden vehicles were being burned just outside the walls, and soldiers of some sort were patrolling the gates to get in. Kahu decided the city might be worth checking out. He leapt from his rcoky perch point and began to travel downwards towards towards the huge town ahead. As he passed, he noticed flags stuck in the ground wherever there was a lot of junk that was burning in the area. The flags had some strange coat of arms on them. Eventually Kahu made it farther into the war-torn landscape, almost at the gates that would allow him to get through the walls around the great village before him. The patrolling soldiers noticed his presence, and one came up to him. "State your business, Toa," said the soldier with the look of annoyance in his eyes. Kahu did not like where the conversation was going. He walked a little closer to the soldier and extended his right arm blade. In asplit second he stabbed the soldier straight in the heart, and the dead warrior slumped to the ground. The other soldiers saw this and immediately charged at Kahu, who had already taken out his trusty laser rifle. A few shots quickly killed the soldiers. He picked up a smoking piece of rubble from part of the town wall and put it over the pile of bodies he had made. No one would find them for a short while. Kahu sliced and shot his way through the guards protecting the front gates. Once in the city he ran into a crowd that was passing by. None of the soldiers that had come as backup could find him. Kahu tried to blend in as best as he could. He followed the crowd through the streets. He noticed that a lot of the buildings were blown apart or abandoned. Dying matoran and lots of corpses were sometimes lying in empty lots, and soldiers were everywhere. No body looked very happy at all. The town must have been through hell. But was it much of a town? It could probably be called a city. The crowd of people Kahu was hiding in began to thin as several Toa found their destinations and exited. Kahu tried to look shorter, as there was maybe one other being as tall as him close by. The crowd eventually arrived at a small square where a being that looked like a mixture between a Toa and a Skakdi was standing, surrounded by soldiers of the same species. He was talking to one of the soldiers, but soon turned to the crowds of people in the square. The Skakdi-Toa guy began to talk. "Greetings, subjects," said the being. He had a tone that seemed to indicate intense pride, and a bit of mockery as well. "As you may know, your settlement is now under new management. The Heturic Empire is now in control." The being stopped for a second, motioned to one of his soldiers, and then continued on. "But...I can promise you that this new rule is a much superior one than the loose, sloppy government you used to have. This city will have order. You will all be model citizens....or you will end up like this poor soul..." One of the soldiers lifted up a dead matoran and showed it to the crowd. The matoran had been stabbed several times, and smelled like rotten garbage. He was partially decomposed, and flies were zooming around the disfigured corpse. Almost every matoran in the crowed winced at the sight. This 'Heturic Empire' was probably going to fear as their main weapon. Kahu was sickened. You should never display your prey. You should let their dissapearance become known, and then make more happen. That would cause the best kind of fear: uncertainty. These Heturics were obviously new guys. Kahu then suddenly heard a small whisper somewhere behind him. Two beings were talking. Not wanting to risk breaking up the conversation, Kahu stayed where he was and listened. "It is only a matter of time before war breaks out! The small fighting in the plains is just a start, I swear! The Heturics don't know what they're up against. Especially when the other side has those..." But the being was cut off as screams filled the air. A loud noise that sounded like gunfire could be heard, and Kahu quickly ducked behind a fallen crate in case any stary fire came his way. He peeked up from the crate to see the Heturic soldiers fighting it out with soldiers of some other species. The attackers looked almost like Toa, but were more armored and seemed to to be more aggressive in their fighting style. They were no Toa at all. One of the attackers fired a machine gun straight at the soldiers. Their shields went up, but the bullets obviously went straight through the not-so-dense metal, and several soldiers fell to the ground dead. Their leader had managed to dodge the attack, and he and another soldier were fleeing the scene while the crowds were panicking. The small group of attackers approached the crowd. Their leader was green armored and had a single rifle. He motioned to one of his soldiers, and they handed him a microphone. He attached its wire to his helmet. "Greetings, matoran!" the being shouted, his voice amplified through the mic. "You no longer have need for fear. The Vector Corps has this city under control. These barbariands will trouble you no longer." Kahu decided to stay and listen some more. Things had gotten interesting. The being continued on after pausing for a moment. "These 'Heturics' have struck a blow against our kind. Our General was killed in a terrible attack on us. We seek to stop these savages once and for all. I ask you out of the justice in your hearts to help us hold this city. I fear the Heturics will be back, and in greater numbers. So please, keep this city your own and aid our army in stopping those-" A shot could be heard. Kahu thought for a split second that the being had been killed by a sniper, but instead his armor was just sparking. An armor shield coat. It was impressive. The being turned around, raised his rifle, and fired at a seemingly random place. A camoflauged Heturic fell from a building across the street. Then it happened. Explosions ripped through the whole block, and Kahu dove towards cover. He looked up to see matoran lying dead, others flying through the air, propelled by the blasts. The small group of Vectors were firing away at oncoming Heturics.....who had.....jetpacks? What the hell was with all this crazy tech? Kahu heard more explosions behind him. More Vectors flooded in through the streets. They had been hiding. The whole city appeared to have become a war zone. The Heturics had regrouped unnaturally fast. Kahu decided it was time to take action. He compared the two sides in his head, trying to see which one he should help. Then a knife almost took his head off. He stabbed the attacking Heturic. His mind then settled on the Vectors. He leaped out from cover and landed directly in front of the Vector who had just been talking. The Vector looked very surprised. Kahu shot several Heturics dead, then leapt backward to stab several more. Meanwhile, the Vectors pushed harder. The Heturics had almost no soldiers left to fight. Slowly they retreated, as if fearing what would happen if they did. The battle was finished, but little did anyone know, the war had just begun, and it would spread longer than anyone could ever conceive... Interlude Deep inside its chamber, it awoke. A sentient life form was dangerously close. It began to restart itself. It had been so long, and it was time for new creatures to use. It was hungry. Whoever the unwitting fool was, he would soon die and become part of something bigger. But he never came. Machines were drilling away, and it just fell asleep again, waiting for the right moment to begin its malicious conquest again. The Heturics were drilling for an ancient artifcat, which was, according to legend, buried deep in the mountains. But it was not a weapon that they could control. It was something much worse, and if released, it would corrupt everything. First the people, then the island, and then everything else... to be continued...